TsunamiReady Community Certification Award

The City of Homer recently renewed its status as a TsunamiReady Community. TsunamiReady is a voluntary community recognition program administered by NOAA and the National Weather Service.  The goal of the program is to improve public safety before, during and after tsunami emergencies.  The award recognizes that Homer meets a standard level of response capability, participates in public awareness and education about tsunami hazards and is engaged in improving community pre-planning for tsunami emergencies.  Meeting TsunamiReady standards also makes the City of Homer eligible for additional ISO community rating system points, which provides discounts on flood insurance.

On February 28th, as part of the City’s ongoing efforts to improve tsunami preparedness and response, we hosted Dr. Elena Suliemani from UAF’s Geophysical Institute and Logan Stolpe, the Geologic Hazards Mitigation Coordinator at the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.  They met with City and Borough staff to review tsunami evacuation lines and procedures and finalize a Homer tsunami brochure design. Afterwards, they shared recommendations with Council.  The pair also presented tsunami information at local schools and at a public lecture hosted by Homer Public Library on March 1st.